Premier hears former PM Kevin Rudd issue dire AI warning
Rudd told state leaders in Adelaide today there is no “more wicked problem” than AI and Australia could face a “real-world crisis” in the next six months.
Former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd told audiences at Adelaide’s Convention Centre this morning that there was “no more wicked problem” than AI which required an “urgent national response”.
The former PM delivered the Flinders University Jeff Bleich Centre address on Wednesday morning. Rudd, who is now the global president of the international relations think tank, the Asia Society, detailed the economic race between China and the United States on the AI front.
Rudd warned there was a “real risk” Australia could face “a real-world crisis within the next six months without any effective national or international governmental frameworks”.
“The uncomfortable truth for everyone in this room is that the AI genie is out of the bottle; it can’t be put back,” Rudd said.
“The question, the talent, and the urgent national task now facing us all is how do we manage it?”
Premier Peter Malinauskas, small business minister Nadia Clancy, One Nation MP Jason Virgo and former defence minister Christopher Pyne were all in attendance for Rudd’s lecture.
Rudd said Australia went from “the lucky country to the complacent country” – repeating a message he gave to the National Press Club last week.
He has since appeared at a variety of speaking events nationally this week about Australia needing its own “sovereign AI industry”.
“Together with the rise and rise of China and the relentless onslaught of climate change, the artificial intelligence revolution is one of the three great global mega changes currently washing across Australia’s shores,” Rudd said.
He referenced Anthropic – the AI company behind Claude – as one with a co-founder Dario Amodei who has warned against what the tech can do.
Rudd referenced Amodei’s claim that “in six to 12 months, such a swarming effect involving multiple AIs operating autonomously could be capable of taking over the entire internet through a persistent botnet”.
He argued there’s a need for “a protocol to prevent the dissemination of such models until such time as they’ve been properly tested against agreed AI safety and security standards”.
Premier Peter Malinauskas said he “could not think of a better authority than that of Kevin Rudd” to address the issue.
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“If we are to harness the opportunities and mitigate the risks that come with this fundamental technological revolution, we need sober heads, clear information,” Malinauskas said.
“We need genuine discourse that goes beyond the headline-grabbing hyperbole of tech bros or catastrophists.”
After his lecture, Rudd will join Jeff Bleich, Flinders University senior lecturer and former President Barack Obama’s ambassador to Australia on a panel discussion about the AI industry.
More to come.
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